The Undead Alchemist
by beltloop
Summary: Set in episode 51, Dante used up Alphonse as a philosopher's stone and switched into Rose's body. She then had to run from Gluttony, leaving Alphonse alone with his dead brother. To be equivalent, a panicked Alphonse sacrificed his soul for his brother's soul, but didn't think it through as he bound his brother's soul to his brother's dead body. Zombie!Ed? In progress.


**_I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist._**

**_A/N: I really shouldn't be starting another story, but this idea just tackled me and I had to put it on paper before I forgot. I may not update for a while to finish my other stories, but we'll see. This will definitely be a multichapter fic. _**

Edward slowly opened his eyes with one name on his mind, _Alphonse. _He was flat on his back and was staring up at the ceiling of the ballroom. _I thought… Didn't Envy stab me? _Edward proceeded to sit up and a wet, slosh sound came from under his back. He turned and found the biggest puddle of blood he'd ever seen. Looking down, he acknowledged the huge, swollen hole going through his chest. He was still bleeding, but he couldn't feel it. Come to think of it, Edward couldn't feel anything. Disregarding the strange, numb feeling, he took his shirt and jacket off and clapped his hands, turning the jacket into a long, black bandage. He wrapped it around his torso to stop the bleeding, all while trying not to be too repulsed by the gore. He slipped his shirt on over it.

Edward leapt up to searched for his brother, trying to say his name but something was caught in his throat. Edward began to have a coughing fit, spitting out blood by the handful. _Oh fuck, _Edward startled, _I'm losing too much blood. _Yet, he didn't woozy or lightheaded at all. As the coughing ceased, he looked around at the room. Luckily for him, the ballroom seemed to be rid of Dante, Gluttony, and Envy. Unfortunately, Alphonse was also no where to be seen.

"Al?" His voice rasped, "Alphonse, where are you?" It echoed off of the cavernous room and bounced back to him, "Al!" His mind was coming up with the worst possible conclusions. Did Dante use Alphonse to switch bodies with Rose? Did gluttony eat Alphonse for the philosopher's stone?

He heard a wail and he turned on his heel. He forgot about Wrath! He could see a lump of a body near the corner of the floor, "Wrath!" Edward rushed to him, "Where's Alphonse? What happened here?" Wrath was lying in a puddle of his own blood, similar to the one that Edward had found himself in. He was beaten and missing two of his limbs.

"You… You were dead," Wrath's voice was hoarse and he kept wailing, "Envy went through the gate… Dante took Rose's body... Alphonse… I want my mommy!"

"Wrath, tell me," Edward's voice cracked, "What happened to Al?"

Wrath suddenly looked up at Edward in confused fascination, "But you're… Alive?" He gasped, "It worked?"

"What worked? Where's my brother?" Edward clenched his fists, starting to get angry.

"He's gone…" Suddenly, Wrath's facial features twisted into horrified expression and he shrieked, "He's gone! They're gone!"

_He's gone? _"Where did he go?" Edward growled, but the boy kept on shrieking. Edward bent over and grabbed a fist full of Wrath's shirt, effortlessly pulling him to get eye level with Edward, "Dammit, Wrath! Tell me!"

Wrath was crying now, "He's gone! She's gone! It's your fault! You died! Mommy's gone!"

Edward shook the boy, "WHERE'S AL?"

"He…" Wrath yelped, startled at Edward's strength, "He sacrificed himself!"

The world stopped for Edward and he instantly dropped Wrath, who fell on the floor with an "umf!". Alphonse was gone? No, that's impossible… He couldn't be gone. He was Edward's baby brother. He wouldn't die so easily. He wouldn't leave Edward behind…

"No!" Edward clenched at his head, pulling at the roots of his hair. He couldn't feel it… Why couldn't he feel it? "No! That's not true! Where is he?"

"It's true!" Wrath shrieked.

"NO!" Edward shouted, "You're WRONG!" Yet, he fell to his knees. A small part of him knew that Wrath was telling the truth, but the rest of him didn't want to believe and rejected the thought. Alphonse couldn't leave him, not like this. Edward couldn't take the thought of it and he called out for his brother, "ALPHONSE!" He dug into his pockets and pulled out a thick piece of chalk. He held it in his palm and stared at it, trying to think of an array that could bring his brother back.

"W-what are you doing?" Wrath looked nervously between the chalk and Edward.

"I can't just let him go, I'm going to bring him back. Or I'm going to go with him," Edward clenched the chalk in his fist, "I can't go on without my brother. I can't do it. He's everything to me. I need to think of an array that could…" Edward trailed off, mumbling, "…but I don't know where he went. Did his whole body disappear?"

Wrath meekly nodded, tears streaming down his face.

"I'll need a baby, like Rose's," Edward muttered grudgingly.

Wrath's breath hitched and he thrashed on the ground, "No! Edward, you can't!"

"I have to," Edward said through his teeth, "I need Alphonse. I know where he is, I was there! I just don't know the array that Dante used to open the gate…" Edward sounded defeated, "Alphonse…"

"Can we get out of here? Gluttony could come back soon," Wrath whined, "It hurts…"

Edward glanced at Wrath and nodded. Alphonse was gone. For now, that is. Edward was going to get him back, but he couldn't do that right now. He needed to research… He needed to get out of here, "Wrath, I'll carry you. I know my way out of here."

Edward bent down to scoop up Wrath and the sin wrapped his only arm around Edward's neck. He was still crying, Ed knew that the pain was unbearable. But instead of Wrath complaining about his pain, he made a remark about Edward, "You are really cold," Wrath pressed his hand against the side of Edward's neck and then completely froze, a look of sheer horror plastered on his face, "Edward?"

"What is it?" Ed seemed annoyed at Wrath's antics, "We should get going, you're losing a lot of blood."

"Y-you don't have a pulse…" Wrath stuttered, his eyes wide.

Edward stopped dead in his tracks, "What?"

"You don't have a pulse. And you're not even breathing…" Wrath looked terrified, "Ed, what are you?"

Edward was very, very confused. The horror donned on him and he realized that he couldn't feel his own heart beating and he wasn't breathing. He consciously tried to breathe, but it didn't work. He couldn't feel anything either, like his whole body was automail, yet he was holding Wrath up like he was a feather. Edward panicked, dropping Wrath onto the floor again and stepping away from the kid. He pressed his palm to his shirt, which was still seeping with blood, "Oh no," Edward groaned, "Oh no, oh fuck no… Al, what have you done?" Edward peeled his shirt off and unwrapped the makeshift bandages. The blood was still flowing strong and Edward heard a startled cry escape his lips.

"I- I can't feel it, I can't feel anything! Dammit, what did he do to me?"

"You're dead!" Wrath shrieked, "You're not even alive!"

Edward knew it was true the moment the words left Wrath's mouth. But how was that possible? _Equivalent Exchange…_ "He gave up his soul for mine… He bounded my soul to my body, but I was already dead..." Like he had bounded Alphonse's soul to the armor, Alphonse had done the same to him.

Wrath began to wail again and Edward clapped. His alchemy still worked, he had transmuted his jacket into the bandage, because alchemy was connected to the soul. Edward created a fire in his palm and held it to his chest over the gaping hole, searing the skin closed to stop the bleeding. He couldn't feel it or smell it, but judging by Wrath's facial expression, it didn't smell pleasant. He did the same to the opening in his back and slipped his seeping shirt back on, "Like you said, we need to get out of here," He lifted Wrath back into his arms and continued on. He had a problem, a huge problem, but he needed to get Wrath to safety first. He'd deal with his problem after.

They tracked through the abandoned city, Edward trying to remember where the old church was. They were silent the whole way except for Wrath's pained whimpers. They seemed to walk for hours until things started to look familiar to Edward and he knew that he was at the opening, "This is it," They started climbing the long stairwell up. After a few minutes, Edward saw a dim dot of light at the top, signifying that they were close. He quickened his pace.

"Ed!" Edward heard Russell shout from the opening. _Shit_, Edward had forgotten about the Tringhams waiting for him in the old church.

**_A/N: Please leave a review? Thanks._**


End file.
